Term 3, Week 4 Newsletter
August 19th 2022
Principal's Message
Kia ora koutou katoa,
Thank you to all parents/caregivers who attended our Three Way Conferences this week. We have had some lovely feedback from these sessions and it has been wonderful to see the pride children have taken in sharing their learning with their whānau. Great Kotahitanga West End School!
As you may remember from last week’s newsletter we had two teams competing in the Mathex Competition held at Awapuni Raceway on Friday morning. We are incredibly proud of the efforts both our teams put forward on the day. Both teams were rewarded with excellent results. Our Year 6 Team (Marnix Simpson, Tamsyn Le, Amber Deng, Sarah Moses) finished tenth and our Year 5 team (Tayla Wilson, Emily Allan, Agam Singh, Avon Pan) finished a very impressive third place.
There were a large number of teams in each year group from all over the Manawatu and Horowhenua so we are very impressed with these results. Well done to all involved including our two parents Sandy McCorkindale and Sarah Le who gave up their time and expertise to support with preparing our children for this event.
We are looking forward to our upcoming Literacy Week in Week 5 (next week), please read later in this newsletter for more information about what is planned.
You may also be aware that during Term 3 a number of clubs have started at West End School. This initiative has been led by our Student Council who work with Mr. Minchin. The children go through an application process to start a club they are interested in. So far we have West End TV Station, Jump Jam, Chess Club, Enviro Group, Rugby and Minecraft (Educational). These clubs run at lunchtime and are supported by our amazing staff. We are always keen to find ways to involve our West End Whānau in school life. If you are interested in supporting a club please email Dan Minchin (dminchin@westend.school.nz).
As you will be aware from my previous communications during the week. Unfortunately, on Wednesday afternoon, one of our children was approached by a member of the public as they walked home from school along College Street. This person, although on foot, offered the child a “lift” home. Our West End School child did a great job handling the situation and told this person “no” and then alerted adults as soon as possible. We have worked closely with NZ Police on the matter and our teachers have spoken with all children in class to reinforce good practices for keeping ourselves safe when traveling to and from school. We suggest that it is a good idea to have conversations with your child(ren) about keeping safe when traveling to and from school also. Please note that we lock our school gates (except for the Library Gate) during the day after morning drop off and only open them again for pick up in the afternoon to support our children’s safety at school.
Thank you West End Whānau for another great week of learning at our Kura. It has been lovely to see so many parents and whānau at school partnering in children’s learning this week at our Three Way Conferences. We look forward to seeing you again next week for our amazing literacy week activities. Have a safe and relaxing weekend.
Ngā mihi nui
Matthew Kennedy
Principal
West End School
Te Kura o Urumutu
Literacy Week next week!!
VIBE Assembly will be in the morning next week
Due to our Literacy Week celebrations happening next week, our VIBE will be moved back to the morning slot of 9am. If you are able to attend, please feel free to stay and visit your child's class to see what amazing literacy work they have been doing. If your child has a favourite book from home that you would like to read to a small group, then you are more than welcome to bring it in and read it to them after the VIBE assembly has finished.
Visiting Author in for Literacy Week
We are excited to have the talented Kaye Arnott at West End School next week as part of our book week celebrations. Kaye has four published books which she will be reading and talking about with children on Monday.
Daffodil Day is next Friday
West End School Student Council will be running Daffodil Day next Friday 26th of August. It would be great to see all students wear yellow and if possible to bring a gold coin donation that we will give to the Cancer Society. Daffodil Day I Tautoko te rā Daffodil is a major funding source for the Cancer Society, as well as an opportunity to raise awareness of cancer in New Zealand.
Room 5 measuring up!
This week Rm 5 have been learning to order objects by height. We had to lie on the ground and stay very still while we were traced around and then we got to decorate our silhouette. We had great fun estimating who would be tallest and who would be shortest.
Upcoming Events
- PTA Sushi Lunch - Friday 19th August
WEEK 5
- Literacy Week
- The Vibe - Thursday 25 August
- Daffodil Day - Friday 26 August
WEEK 6
- School Photos - Monday 29 August
Sports at West End School
Registrations:
A reminder that registrations for the Netball Festival day for our yr0-6s on the 27th/28th August close Friday 19th August, if your child is interested, please get in touch with the sports Coordinator.
Draw:
Badminton:
23rd August - West End Shuttles vs College Street Smash, 4pm on Court 8
West End Shuttles vs Whakarongo Smashers, 4:30pm on Court 2
Hockey:
21st August – West End Funsticks vs Turtea Flame, 9:15am on turf 2H
21st August – West End Ministicks vs College Street Hurricanes, 11:30am on turf 2C
21st August – West End Goldsticks vs College Street Whitesticks, 12:15pm on turf 2B
Practices:
Please see below the days/times for practices:
Hockey
West End Goldsticks – Wednesday 3-3:45pm
West End Ministicks – Thursday 3-3:30pm
West End Funsticks – Friday 3-3:30pm
If you have any questions in relation to sport, please feel free to contact: cdrummond@westend.school.nz
School Photographs - Monday 29 August
Photographs will be taken on Monday 29th August. Codes for ordering photos online will be sent home after the photos are taken. We will advise you when we are sending them home with your child.
TERM DATES 2022
Contact Information
CAR PARKING- ADMINISTRATION BLOCK CARPARK CLOSED AND HALL/ROOM 9 CARPARK FOR DISABILITY VEHICLES
Please do not do not be tempted to use the staff car park or hall carpark when dropping off and collecting your children from school. The administration block is closed for building work.
It becomes very busy and dangerous for children. We have had many families also leave from the Room 9/Hall gate, and observed that many children are crossing the carpark where we have vans and cars entering and exiting at the end of the day. Can whanau please use the other gates around our kura to leave school, as we want everyone to be safe. We encourage parents to park on the street and use the walkways coming into school. Please remember to abide by the road markings on Botanical road and park only in designated spaces (not on the yellow lines). This is for the safety of our children and community members.
Thank you for your co-operation.
The Human Brain - An Instruction Manual
In this presentation, Nathan provides an informative narrative on how our day-to-day interactions with children and young people, significantly the early years, plays a critical role in defining later outcomes for our children. In this talk, Nathan will guide you through the stages of brain development from the first 1000 days and into adulthood. He will reveal little tricks that will hopefully make parenting easier, and help you open up communication with your child. You will walk away with a much better understanding of how both your child's brain and your own brain works.
Captivating audiences over 200 times per year to sell out events, Nathan has a profound reputation as a lively and engaging speaker. He uses humour and plain language to make this complex topic burst into life.
Please click on the link for more details and tickets.
Does the office have your correct contact details? And do we have an alternate contact number in case of an emergency? If you have moved or changed phone numbers or have a different/alternate email address, please let the office know as soon as possible. It is very important that we are able to contact you if there is an accident or emergency. We are also sending out a lot of information through our school app, which are connected to the email address the office has on file. If you would like to add additional email addresses onto contact information, please give these details to the office.
Masks
Due to new directives from the government, it is strongly recommended that children bring masks to school. Adults, please remember to wear a mask when indoors when inside a school building. Thank you for your support.
If your child is absent from school.
It is really important under the current circumstances you notify the school if your child is absent.
PLEASE DO NOT TXT OR EMAIL THE CLASSROOM TEACHER.
ALL ABSENCES SHOULD BE ADVISED VIA THE OFFICE.
Please remember to advise the office by 8.30am if your child is not attending school.
You can telephone 358-2465 and leave a message or txt 021 118 0156.
ABSENCES CAN ALSO BE SENT EASILY THROUGH OUR SCHOOL APP
In both cases please give a reason for absence.
Thank you.
Coding Lessons
In today’s world, it’s essential for young people to learn how to create technology not just
consume it. Coding NZ’s lessons empower students with the tools they need and help give
students the best chance at being successful in our increasingly digital age. Extend your
child’s awareness and horizons. Free trial lessons available now at codingnz.com/signup
Bikes and Scooters to school
For the safety of our children all children biking or scootering to school MUST wear a helmet. Please also remind your children about road safety - including the safest way to travel to school if on a bike and scooter. While students are on the footpath outside the school , we ask if they can walk their bike or scooter. This is for the safety of themselves and others sharing the footpath, as students are travelling very fast and going past 2 of our school driveways where vehicles are coming in and out of.
Start and end of day procedures
It is great to have our West End community back on school grounds under Orange settings. Here is a reminder of start and end of day procedures.
- If your child is at school before the 8.30 bell, they will need to come through the wharenui gate and wait in the area next to the turf.
- Students need to wait here until the bell goes at 8.30am.
- Please remind your child to walk sensibly to class. We have had a few accidents with students running and tripping over each other in the excitement of getting to class.
- At the end of the day, students will be let go from class. Please let your child know if you are picking them up and therefore will need to wait outside the classroom or meet you in the designated spot you told them to go.
- If siblings are going home together, please make a plan of where your children will meet each other so they aren't walking around school trying to find each other.
Kindo Online Shop
It is very important that families register with Kindo, as this is now the only way to register your child for school sports, and ordering PTA lunches.
Below are the links to register.
If you require help please call the Kindo helpdesk on
0508 454 636
New users need this link
Existing users need this link
Location: West End School, 196 College Street, Palmerston North
Phone: 06 358 2465